Apparatus for printing on the adhesive side of an adhesive covered material



. E. BRONFMAN 4 APPARATUS FOR PRINTING oN THE ADHES 2,223,907 IVE SIDE oF Dec. 3, 1940.

AN ADHESIVE COVERED MATERIAL Filed July 9, 1938 `Patented Dec. 3, 1,940

UNITED f STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ON THE ADHE- SIVE SIDE OF AN ADHESIVE COVERED MATERIAL :This invention relates to a printing process for applying printing to the adhesive side of a transparent adhesive sheet material or tape.

The process results in a new article of commerce, namely a. printed adhesive transparent tape or sheet material which, when applied, will show the printing and at the same time will pre- I In the present invention, the printing is applied only tothe amount of .tape that is being used. If, for any reason, a change in the printed matter is necessary, it may be easily done by changing the printing roller or` the lettering thereon. No tape need ever 'be wasted as would be the case if it were pre-printed.

A diiiiculty encountered in the development of this invention was in the choice of the proper type of ink and consistency therefor in order to make a legible printing. A liquid ink would run on the surface of the adhesive. After considerable experimentation, it was discovered that a dry color ora quick drying ink would be most suitable for the purpose. To accomplish a proper application of this ink to the printing roller, a

novel method and apparatus was devised. This structure and method of application is one of the objects of my invention. s Another .object of the invention is to provide a simple machine that is easy and inexpensive to constructl for carrying out the printing process of this invention.

To the accomplishment'of lthe foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear,

my invention consists in the combination, ar-

rangement and construction of parts hereinafter broken away of the preferred` embodiment of the machine for carrying out the printing proc ess of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1; 5

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modification of a detail of the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

In the drawing, I designates the base which 10 carries the housing 2 attached by suitable screws. Bosses 3 extend inwardly within the housing to provide bearings at the bottom 4of the bosses for the tape carrying roller 4. The bosses are pro-v vided with slots to allow easy insertion and rel' moval of the tape carrying roller. The prefabricated transparent adhesive tape 5 vwhich comes on a blank is mounted on the roller 4.

The tape is drawn through a printing device generally designated as 6 where printing is ap- 20 plied to the sticky side of the tape and from which the tape is drawn to a cutter 1 where the required amount may be cut.

The cutter is held in position at the front part 25 of the 'housing 2 by a screw 8 which also holds the supporting block 9 for the printing device.

'I'he printing apparatus is enclosed in av two part housing I0, II hingedf at I2 with the upper housing arranged to span the side wall of the 30 lower housing when closed (Fig. 3).

The lower housing carries the printing roller I3 mounted in suitablebearings in the side walls thereof. Contacting the printing roller is a felt roller I4, also mounted in suitable bearings in 35 the side walls, which applies the pigment to the printing roller.

Integral with the housing I I is a pigment reservoir I5 which is open at its bottom to allow feeding of the pigment and may be closed at the top ,40 by any suitable means, as by a slide, not shown.

The open bottom of the reservoir is closed on by a brush I6 extending across the whole length of the opening(see Fig. 5). This prevents the pigment from dropping into housing Il. The brush s I6 feeds the particles of pigment by gravity and by creeping action along the brush to the felt roller Il from which it is picked up by the printing roller for application to the tape.`

The top of the lower housing I I has two projections I1 from its side wall which act as guides for initially aligning the tape in printing position and for keeping it so set. These projections .also

.act as clasps -by their` inherent spring action to maintain the upper. housing in operative position.

The upper hinged housing l0 has a rubber roller I9 and a guide roller .20 rotatably mounted in the side walls thereof. The rubber roller is in line with and of such diameter relative to the printing roller that it will be slightly compressed at the point of contact between the two. This action presses the tape against theprinting roller for obtaining a clear impression. Slots are provided 'in the end walls of housing I0 for the passage position the tape and the housing I0 is then` snapped into its operative position.

In the modication shown in Fig. 4, the brush I6 is replaced by a roller 2| of felt or other suitable material which functions in the same manner and for the same purpose as does the brush.

The disclosed structure is a representative showing of the printing machine when it is to be employed for printing on narrow strip transpar'- ent Cellophane adhesive tape. The process is not. however, limited to a narrow tape. Any size sheet of transparent material having an adhesive surface may be printed on its adhesive side by the process herein disclosed. This disclosure is not to be construed as a limitation but only as a representative showingof one way of carrying out my invention.

I claim:

1. In a printing apparatus a two part housing hingedly connected together, a printing roller, a pigment reservoir and a pigment applying means contained in one part of the housing, xed projections formed on said one part of the housing acting as guides for the material to be printed, a pressing roller mounted in the other part of the housing, means on said other part of the housing cooperating with the fixed projections on the said rst part of the housing for locking the two ytogether to make a pressing Contact between the printing roller and the pressing roller and to form a closed printing housing.

2. In a printing apparatus a two part housing hingedly connected together, a printing roller, a pigment reservoir and a pigment applying means contained in one part of the housing, fixed projections formed 'on said one part of the housing acting as guides for the material to be printed, indentations formed in said guide projections, a pressingv roller and a guide roller formed on the other part of the housing for pressing the material to be printed against the printing roller and for guiding it, projections on the said other part of the housing cooperating with the indentations in the guide projections for locking the two parts of the housing together to form a closed printing housing.

3. In a printing apparatus of the character described, a two part housing separably connected together, said housing forming a substantially square sided box when closed, an opening at the rear of the box through which the materirl to be printed passes, an opening at the front of the box through which the printed material issues, a printing roller and a pigment reservoir contained in one part of the housing, xed guide means formed on a side wall of said one part of the housing for positioning and guiding the material to be printed, a pressing roller and a guide roller mounted in the other part of the housing, and means for joining the two housing parts together to make a pressing contact between the printing roller and the pressing roller and to form a closed'printing housing.

4. In a printing apparatus, a two part housing hingedly connected together, the lower part being xed, the upper part being swingable relative to the lower part, said housing forming a substantially square sided box when closed, an opening at the rear of the box through which the material to be printed passes, an opening at the front of the box through which the printed material issues, a printing roller and a pigment reservoir contained in the lower part of the housing, a pressing roller mounted in the swingable upper part of the housing, fixed projection Vmeans formed at the top of a side wall of the lower part of the housing and a guide roller mounted in the upper part of the housing for positioning and guiding the material to be printed.

5. In a printing apparatus, a two part housing hingedly connected together, the lower part being fixed, the upper part being swingable .relative to the lower part, said housing forming a substantially squar'e sided box when closed, an opening at the rear of the box through which positioning and guiding the material to be printed, and means for locking the two housing parts together comprising means on the swingable upper part of the housing which cooperate with the fixed projection means on the lower part of the housing to lock the two housing parts to-y gether.

BENJAMIN BRONFMAN.

A5 the material to be printed passes, an opening at 

